For my money, we are beginning the worst part of the meteorological calendar. I can live with these fall temperatures but the bone-piercing cold and snow is soon to follow.
With that, however, comes the best part of the sports calendar. The Pittsburgh Penguins will take the ice just about every other day between now and April. That makes the winter feel a little less long.
This is season number 22 (!) for Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh. He took the ice Wednesday night and officially took over the moniker of the longest tenured athlete in Pittsburgh history from Roberto Clemente. Let the history and all the time that has passed since Crosby’s debut sink in for a moment before continuing this article.
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A lot of time has also passed since I’ve been in the writing game. Burnout was a real thing, but I’m really excited for this new opportunity with Sportsvival. I’m not even sure exactly how much I’ll be writing but I plan to publish a lot over the next few weeks as there’s tons to catch up on. It only felt appropriate that my first piece back is my favorite piece to write: Flavell’s Five Thoughts.
I usually do these after Steelers games but I’m thinking that I’ll be doing them weekly or bi-weekly on the entire scope of Pittsburgh sports. But with the Penguins season beginning, I wanted to write a piece strictly focused on them as they embark on a newly instituted 84-game schedule.
1) The best defense will be offense
Let’s be real here. The defense has the potential to be an unmitigated disaster. Sure, they looked good in the win over the Flyers but that’s in the micro. In the macro? There’s plenty to be concerned about.
Kris Letang is another year older after a mostly down year last season. Trevor Van Riemsdyk isn’t the player he used to be. Kaden Korczak and Declan Carlisle are largely unknown commodities.
I’m hopeful that Sam Girard can play better hockey now that he’s healthy and Erik Karlsson played Norris-caliber hockey on the blue line last year.
With all of that said, the Penguins have tons of forward depth and all of it was on display in the victory over Philadelphia. All three players that were supposed to make up the third line - Justin Brazeau, Ben Kindel, and Bryan Rust - are on injured reserve. In their stead, the Penguins’ third line all scored.
Ville Koivunen, Hendrix Lapierre, and Filip Hallander all showed Penguins fans why they can compete in a crowded Eastern Conference. When guys get hurt, it’s always next man up and the Penguins could fill about six forward lines when they’re 100% healthy.
Surely they’re going to either lose one or two guys to waivers or have to make a trade at some point but they’re going to score goals. It’s inevitable. And with the six guys on the blue line, they’re going to need them all.
This goes without saying anything about…
2) The goalies
Behind the suspect defense is another question mark that could decide the Penguins’ season one way or the other. In Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov, the Penguins have an unproven, yet potentially very talented tandem.
I’m personally still not sold on Silovs. He looked awful in his preseason action but played very well against Philadelphia. There weren’t many high danger chances as the Penguins smothered them for a large portion of the night but he did his job.
Too many times last year, Silovs allowed ugly goals from long range and lacked much rebound control. I need to see him go on a prolonged run. However, he clearly saved any hope the Penguins had in the postseason last year when he took over Stuart Skinner’s job in game four and nearly got the Penguins back to Pittsburgh for a game seven before they fell short in overtime.
Murashov has long been touted as a high-end goaltending prospect in the Penguins’ system. The 22-year old got a cup of coffee with the Penguins last season but spent much of his time in Wilkes-Barre taking them on a deep postseason run.
He’s as ready as he’ll ever be and will have a chance to compete with Silovs to see who can carry the load for the parent club.
The Penguins have another goalie in Joel Blomqvist who they seem to have a lot of belief in as well. Unfortunately, it’s a numbers game and he’s going to begin the season in the AHL. Goalies get hurt so there’s a very high chance that Blomqvist is going to get a decent look in the NHL at some point.
Pittsburgh has an opportunity to field a solid trio in the goal crease this season. They’re just going to do it behind a very questionable defensive unit.
3) Castaway’s find their way in Pittsburgh?
Nick Robertson and Hendrix Lapierre both were acquired by the Penguins in the offseason and made their presence known for their new team.
Robertson scored twice, one of them banked off the boards and off of Flyers’ goalie Dan Vladar while Lapierre brought the energy all night and scored his first in a Penguins’ uniform.
Nick, the brother of Pittsburgh’s off-season trade target Jason, never quite found his way in Toronto. He was always a bottom of the lineup guy that never got full bloom. One game on Sidney Crosby’s wing and he’s potted two tallies already.
Lapierre probably wouldn’t have cracked the Penguins’ top-12 simply due to the depth up front. However, his first game in a Penguins uniform is going to make it tough on the coaching staff to sit him.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens as guys get healthy. Robertson is going to be in the lineup one way or the other. Lapierre is going to need to continue proving his worth after the Capitals cast him off to Pittsburgh.
4) Let’s not forget about Dan Muse
There were a lot of players that contributed to the Penguins going to the playoffs last year. Anthony Mantha and Egor Chinakov enjoyed career years. Karlsson has a resurgence. The legends produced vintage seasons. One of the main reasons for all of that?
Dan Muse.
To get an entire team full of older guys to buy in to his way of hockey after playing under a guy they adored in Mike Sullivan for nearly a decade is more than impressive. They bought into what he was selling and the team played structured hockey across all 82.
This guy can coach hockey. He was a dark horse candidate for the Penguins it seemed after Sullivan’s exit from the Penguins following the 2024-25’ season. The few guys left from the Cup teams likely weren’t happy to have to start over with a new coach…then they met Muse.
Muse let guys, notably Karlsson, play their games last season instead of trying to mold them into something they’re not. He’s a good hockey coach. This could be a home run hire by Kyle Dubas. He’s the perfect coach to lead the crop of young guys coming through the Penguins’ revitalized farm system.
5) Can they make the playoffs?
I’m cautiously optimistic that they can. They’re going to score. I do believe that. They’ll go through lulls where they’re gripping the stick too tight. It’s a long season. But when we look back at the Penguins after game 84, I’m putting my money on their floor being a top-10 offense.